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A resilient health system necessitates strong governance, political commitment, effective administrative entities and inter-organisational collaboration. This paper examines India's current health policy landscape and explores the analytical and operational capacities required to establish a robust post-pandemic health system using the policy capacity framework described by Wu et al. (2015). We emphasised the need for a coordinated policy response to strengthen health information systems, health service management, human resource management and healthcare financing. The role that the planned implementation of Indian public health management cadres would play in the coming era, the importance of a comprehensive health information management system and the need for operational coordination between government and non-governmental organisations has also been emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging population is of growing concern all across the globe as well as in India. Polypharmacy has been defined as the simultaneous use of multiple medications by an individual and the clinical suitability of such use. Polypharmacy is found more frequently in the geriatric population. Researches in India have also reiterated the fact. Polypharmacy in the geriatric population leads to many negative consequences such as increased adverse drug reactions, falls, frailty, and even increased mortality. Moreover, it leads to increased out-of-pocket expenditure. Polypharmacy also poses risk of poor treatment adherence and missed dose in the geriatric population. Mitigation measures in this regard may include increased awareness among physicians, improved medication management and adherence, efforts to reduce self-medication, and improper crosspathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cholera is a primordial disease caused by Vibrio cholerae which existed from centuries in different parts of the world and still shows its periodic, endemic and epidemic presence. Thousands of cholera cases are reported from different parts of India and the disease remains endemic throughout the year. At present, we do not have enough knowledge about the phenotypic nature of the circulating V. cholerae strains in this part of the world. Objectives: This study was carried out over a period of 6 years with the aim defer with the changes in the prevalence and distribution of biotypes, serotypes and phage types of V. cholerae clinical isolates from various endemic regions of the country to determine phenotypic characteristics of the circulating strains and also to predict the attributes of cholera strains responsible for causing significant outbreaks in future. Materials and Methods: A total of 1882 V.cholerae O1 isolates from different cholera endemic areas of India were included in this study. V.cholerae strains which were identified as O1 biotype ElTor further analyzed for serotype and phage types using the standard methodologies. Polyvalent O1 and monospecific Inaba and Ogawa antisera were used for serotyping. A panel of five phages of Basu and Mukherjee phage typing scheme and five phages from the new phage typing scheme were used for phage typing analysis following standard methodology. Results: Maximum numbers of strains were isolated from cholera-endemic states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. All the isolates were confirmed as V. cholerae O1 biotype ElTor and majority of them were serotype Ogawa (93.2%). New phage typing scheme resulted in almost 100% typeable V. cholerae O1 strains included in this study and phage type 27 was the predominant type. Although 80% of the strains used in this study were sensitive to all the vibrio phages, S5 phage was found most efficient in lysing cholera strains indicating its broader host range. Conclusion: The current study identified phage type 27 as the most dominant type and serotype Ogawa was found continuous in circulation throughout the year which has caused recent cholera outbreaks in India during the past years. Phage sensitivity data propose an alternative cost-effective approach to prevent cholera outbreak by therapeutic uses of typing phages irrespective of origin or clonality of the strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HIV/AIDS is still a big public health challenge of India. Female Sex Workers (FSWs) belong to an important high risk group (HRG) in the transmission of HIV/AIDS. International borders have intermingling of population and also plenty of migrant population. Thus study on FSW s with relation to HIV/AIDS in an international border area is an important area of Research. Aims: The present study was planned with the objectives of: to determine the sociodemographic profile of the FSW under the study, to assess their knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS and to find out their sexual practices. Settings and Design: It was a community based descriptive cross sectional study, done at the Indo-Bhutan border town of Jaigaon in Alipurduar District of West Bengal with the help of a Non-governmental organization (NGO) working on Targeted Interventions (TI) for FSW. Methods and Material: Total 90 FSWs were interviewed using predesigned pretested questionnaire. The questionnaires used were prior validated by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analysed by SPSS 14.0. Results and Conclusions: The analysis revealed that 35 % of the study population were illiterate. It was also found that 81% of respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS; 76.7% had knowledge about its spread through vaginal sex, 67.8% had idea regarding its Mother to Child transmission. 92% felt PLHIV should not be kept away from others, 93% felt they shouldn't be deprived from property. Regarding sexual activity, 76.7% had sexual activity more than 3 times/week and 97.8% used condom persistently in last one year. Coordinated Efforts is required to be taken in this regard to tackle these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]